CRACKED ribs have prevented world champion powerboat racer Miles Jennings, from Exton, racing in the Round Britain Powerboat Race.

CRACKED ribs have prevented world champion powerboat racer Miles Jennings, from Exton, racing in the Round Britain Powerboat Race.

Miles has been forced to sit out several days of racing after suffering three cracked ribs and torn thoracic ligaments from earlier in the week.

He hopes to be fit enough to continue racing in time for the weekend.

Miles' injuries were a second headache for the Silverline team, whose vessel was already suffering gearbox problems - forcing them to burn the midnight oil removing the engines in order to fix the problem in time for the next day's race.

Miles, racing with team Silverline Original Style, sustained his injuries 25 miles into the Milford Haven - Bangor leg of the race.

He said: "I knew I done some damage but I managed to keep going. It wasn't until the gearbox went 15 miles off Bangor that I realised how much pain I was in.

"With the gearbox problems it took us two hours to complete the last excruciating 15 miles!"

Team mate Drew Langdon added: "After our earlier drive coupling failure we looked at all the options and after talking to the guys at ZF, we put one of our back-up crew on an aeroplane to Germany to pick up some spares."

Mr Jenning's team is competing to be the fastest to sail 1,600 nautical miles around the coast of Britain, in what is known as the 'Mount Everest' of power boating - and the first event of its kind to be held for more than 25 years.